Jun 18, 2008 3:58 pm US/Eastern
Sleep Apnea Linked To Brain Damage
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
Sleep apnea disrupts your ability to sleep through the night, and that lack of sleep can make it hard to focus during the day. Now, for the first time, researchers have discovered the condition can actually damage parts of the brain.
Jim Reynolds says sleep apnea not only zapped his energy and focus but damaged his short-term memory. "If you imagine what it's like when you go through a night without any sleep the next day you're foggy, imagine what it's like going through 10 years of that," he said.
During sleep apnea, muscles in the throat become relaxed, cutting off the airway and constantly waking patients up.
UCLA's Dr. Ronald Harper says that it's common among sleep apnea patients to have trouble remembering new things. Recent memory is particularly affected.
It's been assumed short term memory problems are caused by sleep deprivation.
But when Dr. Harper looked inside the brain he discovered much more.
Memories are stored in a small part of the brain called the Mammillary Bodies. Harper found in sleep apnea patients that area had shrunk significantly.
It is suspected that constant oxygen loss is to blame. Researchers want to start testing a vitamin -- given to alcoholics who suffer memory loss -- to see if it can help. Until then, doctors say sleeping with a breathing assist machine and daily exercise is the best treatment.
"My sharpness during the day improved tremendously," Jim said of the success of his treatment. But his short-term memory still has not returned fully, and he wonders if it ever will.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
